From Cosmo Bachelor to ABC Bachelor

We have to say, when we gave the 2010 Bachelor of the Year title to Ryan "Mickey" McLean, we were pretty damn excited to see what was next for him. And he definitely did not disappoint—with a stint on this past season's The Bachelorette, we were able to get our Mickey dose every single week. We caught up with him to hear what the show was really like and what he's up to now. The best part? He's still single, ladies... and that OH.bachelor10@gmail.com e-mail address still works.

Mickey: After winning it all, things definitely changed with all of the media coverage—obviously I became a little bit more recognizable. All in all, I couldn't be happier that I won.

How did being Bachelor of the Year snowball into a spot on The Bachelorette?

Mickey: ABC gave me a call after the Cosmo feature first came out, before I was even Bachelor of the Year. I kept in touch back and forth with them to learn a little bit about the show, which I had never watched—until I was on it.

We love gutsy moves at Cosmo, so we have to ask: how did you get the balls to kiss Ashley the first time you met her? Do you think that was a good strategy in hindsight?

Mickey: It's gutsy for sure. Ballsy, yes. In normal life that was not a move that I would even consider pulling, but I knew that I was going to be one of the first guys out of the limo, and I knew there would be a lot of memorable guys behind me. Based on that, I had to go for it and hope that Ashley wouldn't take it too seriously. It would at least give us some kind of conversation point later in the party, and that's exactly what happened. Later in the night as soon as I sat down, she remembered my name and who I was. I think it worked out all right for me because I wasn't sent home that night!

We were pretty shocked when you decided to leave. What made you come to that conclusion?

Mickey: It wasn't an easy decision. Ashley is a nice girl, and I enjoyed the time I spent with her, but she was there to find a husband. For me, I did not have that strong connection. Would I have loved to have kept traveling and hanging out? Sure. But that's not fair to her. It was time to sit her down and let her know that the feelings just weren't there for me and tell her that it was only fair to her to spend more time with the other guys and for me to move on.

Who did you think Ashley would pick?

Mickey: My answer to the question really wouldn't have been different even if you had asked me weeks ago. Very early on I felt that J.P. and Ben had the strongest connections with Ashley. You know, it's usually not hard to tell who somebody is attracted to. With J.P. there was something special there. I think I saw a little bit more sparkle in both of their eyes than I did with her and Ben. And now that she's chosen J.P., I wish them the best of luck.

What are you up to these days?

Mickey: Life is a little bit different. I was a chef, but I had to leave for a couple months for the show, and the kitchen's not a place where you can just take a leave of absence. Now that I've been back, I've been bartending, which is nice. There are a lot of people who come in and are fans of the show. Once things start to die down here I hope to be back in the kitchen, but I always say I don't really plan too far out into the future. A year ago I would never have thought I'd be in Cosmopolitan magazine! So I'm keeping my options open.

What advice would you give to this year's Cosmo Bachelors?

Mickey: Take it less as a competition and more as an honor to be there. Have fun with it. I had a great experience, and I certainly would not have made the friends that I did if I went in there looking at it from a competitive standpoint. So keep an open mind about it. And good luck to everybody this year!